


The art that you are

by Anonymous



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Anal Sex, Art, Artist Park Chanyeol, BaekYeol - Freeform, Bottom Park Chanyeol, Byun Baekhyun Fluff, Byun Baekhyun Smut, Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol Fluff, Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol Smut, ChanBaek - Freeform, Do Kyungsoo | D.O & Park Chanyeol Friendship, Fluff and Smut, Hand & Finger Kink, Holding Hands, M/M, Mirror Sex, Painting, Park Chanyeol Fluff, Park Chanyeol Smut, Sexual Tension, Shy Park Chanyeol, Soft Park Chanyeol, Sweet Park Chanyeol, They are so cute together that you will feel even more single, Top Byun Baekhyun, Waiter Byun Baekhyun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:01:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29194986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Three things have always been part of Chanyeol's life: new flowers in his garden, exhibitions and inspiration. Since he started to work, as an artist, for his friend's art gallery, he never missed the chance to exhibit beautiful paintings, but not now, not since the lack of inspiration blocked him.That is, until he goes to a new cafè that just opened and sees a beautiful waiter, with delicate hands and a nice smile. He starts going there everyday just to do lots and lots of sketches and drawings of him, hoping that he wouldn't notice. Someday, tho, he does.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 11
Kudos: 61
Collections: Tender PCY Fest 2021





	1. Chapter one

**Author's Note:**

> First of all i'd like to say thank you for organizing this beautiful fest, then to whoever wrote this amazing prompt and last but not least to my very patient beta.  
> Personally, this is one of the fics i loved the most to write and it's very special to me, i hope that you will enjoy it as well.

“ Chanyeol, did y-”

“ The answer is no, I didn’t draw anything. Again” he sighed. 

When he graduated from art school he was over the moon, he thought that the world was there for him, new adventures and opportunities were waiting for him. He knew that he didn’t choose an easy path, being an artist wouldn’t have been easy, but it was his dream, his vocation. 

He was so full of ideas and inspiration back then, he spent his days painting, then with the help of his friend Kyungsoo, who told him “ Your art is too beautiful to be hidden inside your messy room”, he opened an online shop where he sold his paintings. 

“ Don’t you dare to lower the prices of your works, Chanyeol. You’re not selling anything, you’re right, but did you think it would have been that easy? Be patient and don’t underestimate your paintings!” told him Kyungsoo. He was discouraged seeing that his shop didn’t go well, maybe his art was not that good to be sold, but he followed his friend’s advice and he waited. 

With patience and followed by a lot of promotions, after a few months, he sold his first painting. 

Week after week the views at his shop increased and he started to sell more and more. He was so happy, especially when he saw the satisfied smiles on his clients' faces.

“ All those people love your art, Chanyeol, and they’re bringing a piece of you, of your fantasy, to their place!” Kyungsoo told him proudly. 

He would have never forgotten that day. He was chilling in his garden, jazz music on, a lemonade in front of him, when he got a call. 

That was the day he met Junmyeon. He was an art critic who had just opened a gallery where he wanted to give space and visibility to new artists. One of his friends bought one of his paintings, so he got interested in him and after looking at his site he asked him if he wanted to work with him. 

At first, he couldn't believe that someone really wanted to work with him, he thought that maybe it was a joke or a scam, maybe Junmyeon wanted to steal his art, but after going through some research, he realized that Junmyeon was well known in his field, and so he could trust him. 

When he first met the art critic, he thought that Junmyeon literally looked like the owner of an art gallery, he looked expensive, elegant, almost cold, but once he knew him he understood that not only he was a real expert but he was also a very good and kind person and in no time, they became friends. 

For their first collaboration, Junmyeon asked him his best painting, the one he thought that represented his art best, it would have been part of the exhibition of new talents to inaugurate the gallery. 

Even if the paintings of that exhibition weren't on sale, a lot of people asked Junmyeon for the price of his painting. 

“ I knew you had the talent!” he told him that day. 

A month later Junmyeon organized the first exhibition just for his paintings and it was a great success. 

He worked with Junmyeon for three years now and he was happy about it.

“ I know it’s not my business, but can I ask you the first thing you bought when you started to earn well?” asked Junmyeon, one evening while they were out, celebrating a successful exhibition.

“ A hammock and a record player” he answered.

Junmyeon laughed.

“ I can understand the hammock, it perfectly suits your little garden full of flowers, your idyllic place, as you like to call it, but the record player? No one uses it anymore!”

“ I know, I love the sound, I can assure you that the music is different, I can’t explain it to you!”

Three things were always part of his life: new flowers in his garden, exhibitions and inspiration. 

Junmyeon was always surprised by how he could paint so many things and always so different subjects. 

“ What’s your secret?” he asked him once.

“ I don’t have a secret, inspiration and ideas just come, I accept them whenever they arrive and I put them down before they fade away” was his answer. 

Now, he missed that time. 

He heard about artists losing inspiration. Having an artist block was more common than he thought, but after almost a year of being blocked, he started to lose hope. 

Nothing changed in his life, no bad things that could have influenced his mind happened. Kyungsoo once asked him if he had been dumped or something like that and he laughed at him saying: “ My love life is like my inspiration right now, it doesn’t exist!” 

He had some ideas, but whenever he sat in front of his canvas, it was like his hands didn’t want to work and the idea ran away from him. Sometimes even if he tried to draw something or just anything, those canvases always ended up in the trash. 

“ Maybe you should try something like hypnosis or those mushrooms that make you see things” suggested his friend Sehun. He was a model and he had often modeled for some of his paintings, he also tried to help him, but without results. 

“ What I need is a miracle Sehun, but thank you for your suggestion, I guess.”

In a few months, Junmyeon organized a new exhibition, the theme was Beauty. He was very excited when he told him about it and he couldn’t wait to join it, but his hands disagreed.

“ The theme is easy for you Chanyeol, draw anything, like a flower, beautiful things” said Kyungsoo. 

“ Or me, I mean the theme is perfect for such a human being like me!” added Sehun. 

“ No, it has to be something original, something I have never painted. I can't draw a random thing” Chanyeol said, thinking hard.

“ Did you just call me a random thing?” Sehun complained while furrowing his eyebrows, making him laugh and also pay for his pizza that evening, as an apology. 

Everyday Junmyeon called him, asking him for updates about his work, but every single time, he could only tell him that he had nothing. 

“ What is wrong with me, rose?” he sighed, looking at his beautiful red rose, while he was wandering in the garden. 

“ He’s talking with his flower, again” said a voice. 

He turned around and saw his friends Kyungsoo and Sehun walking toward him, with some beers in their hands.

“ We thought to cheer you up, I heard from Junmyeon that you still have nothing and we thought that you were sad” added Kyungsoo. 

“ Unless you prefer to talk with your flowers, but I'm very sure that a beer would be better” exclaimed Sehun. 

He smiled, he was lucky to have them and beer was exactly what he needed. 

“ Maybe you need a holiday, like a trip abroad, your mind needs to see new things to get new art” said Kyungsoo, pushing up his glasses.

“ I went to Jeju, last month.”

“ I said abroad, Chanyeol, outside Korea!” 

“ I don’t have time for that, I have to-”

“ Spend your days in front of a white canvas?”

Yes, that was what he did every day. 

“ I know what our friend here needs” said Sehun.

He and Kyungsoo looked at him. Sehun brought his bottle of beer to his lips and drank it.

“ Is it a secret or will you tell it?” asked Kyungsoo. 

“ Sorry, I wanted to create some atmosphere. Anyway, love.”

Chanyeol laughed.

“ For a moment I thought you were going to say something useful and smart.”

“ Hey!”

“ You know that I rarely agree with Sehun, but maybe what he said is not that senseless.”

“ Thank you Kyungsoo, I guess.” Sehun shrugged.

“ Love? Come on, we’re not in a Disney movie, it’s not like love will make me draw, this is real life, a life where if I don’t draw or paint, I’ll stop earning money.”

They spent the whole night talking, till they drank the last bottle of beer and the moon was acting as the only light.

“ It’s better if we go, I have to bring Sehun back home before he falls asleep here” said Kyungsoo, looking at their friend who was having hard times keeping his eyes open. 

“ Anyway Chanyeol, they opened a new cafè around the corner, I thought that maybe we could go there for a coffee tomorrow morning.”

“ Sure, why not. Thank you for this evening, guys” Chanyeol smiled and waved the other two off.


	2. Chapter two

He had never been a good drinker, a few beers were already enough to make him wake up with a headache the following day. If it wasn’t for this appointment to the new cafè with his friends, he would have loved to stay in bed, but he couldn’t allow himself a lazy morning. 

Before leaving, he watered some of his plants and flowers. They made the little garden his piece of paradise, where he had had the best ideas for his best paintings. 

The new cafè looked very nice. The walls were painted a very light pink with some pots of flowers and plants at the entrance. He didn’t know if it was because it was a new thing or if their food was really good, but it was full of people. Kyungsoo was waiting for him outside. 

“ Sehun? Do we have to wait for him, as always?”

“ No, I called him this morning and he didn’t answer, so I guess he’s still sleeping, let’s go before there are no more free tables!”

Inside it was even nicer. It was very bright and clean, it looked a little bit fancy but cozy and the smell of coffee warmed the atmosphere. 

“ There, there’s a free table!” exclaimed Kyungsoo grabbing his arm to lead him to the table he had seen. 

A few minutes later, a girl came to take their order.

“ A cup of espresso for me and green tea for my friend, thank you.”

“ How did you know that I wanted green tea?”

“ You always drink that after a drinking night.”

“ So did the alcohol bring you inspiration?” he asked. 

“ I'm losing hope, Kyungsoo.” Chanyeol looked down.

“ I won’t allow that Chanyeol, you have a severe artist block, it’s ok, I'm sure all the artists, even the best ones, had it, it’s temporary, you have to be patient.”

“ The exhibition is in a month, I need patience and time and I lack both.”

Their talk was interrupted by a boy. A very nice boy. 

No, the more he looked at him the more he realized that the only way to describe the boy was beautiful. 

“ Sorry to interrupt you, they needed my colleague somewhere else, she is the only one who can use the ice cream machine, so I brought you what you ordered. One cup of espresso and green tea, I know it’s not my business but I usually drink green tea after a drinking night, so I hope that whoever of you two took that had a funny night” he said, smiling brightly.

Kyungsoo laughed showing his heart-shaped lips.

“ Wow, Chanyeol, you’re not the only one then.”

“ Oh so it’s for you, here you go” he said, giving him the cup of tea.

“ Thank you!” 

“ Enjoy your drinks, if you need something else, call me!” he exclaimed, before leaving. 

Kyungsoo started to talk again, about different things and about Sehun who kept sending him Tik Tok videos thinking that they were funny. He was listening to him, but he couldn't help but look at the waiter who brought them their order. He observed him as he walked from one table to another, with no rest, smiling and talking to every client.

“ Am I that boring?”

“ What?”

“ Your face is telling me that you’re not listening to me.”

“ No, I am, you said that Sehun called you in the middle of the night telling you that you had to watch a Tik Tok about dinosaurs.”

“ I said that like five minutes ago, Chanyeol, I'm talking about dildos now.”

“ Yes dildos, I agree.” Chanyeol answered mindlessly.

Kyungsoo laughed so loudly that people around them looked at them. 

“ You’re totally not listening to me, where did your attention fly to?”

In that moment, the waiter arrived to bring the order to the table next to them. 

“ Was everything ok?” he asked, probably noticing that he was looking at him.

Chanyeol quickly snapped out of his daydream.

“ Y-yes, thank you!” he answered, shyly. The waiter smiled and left.

“ Oh, I see, well, I can’t blame you.” 

“ It’s not what you think!”

“ I didn’t say anything, Chanyeol, but you just proved to me that I'm right!”

He blushed. 

“ Wow, last time I saw you blushing was when we went to that exhibition where the artist painted all his sexual partners' dicks and you commented one, saying that dick was the smallest you’ve ever see and the owner of it was right behind you and he had almost beaten you up.” 

He laughed at the memory. 

“ Talk to him, Chanyeol!”

“ He’s working and it’s nothing, can’t I look at a nice guy?”

“ Mmmm, as you wish.”

That afternoon while he was in front of his white canvas, as always, he couldn’t stop thinking about that waiter, the way the sunlight that entered through the big window hit his hair, giving it an ash color, while he was blonde.

For a moment his brush touched the canvas, while he was thinking about that boy’s smile over and over.

“ Who do I want to kid?” he said, laughing at himself. He put the brush down and left the room, the white canvas behind him. 


	3. Chapter three

The following day, without thinking twice, he woke up, he got dressed and after having checked himself in the mirror, for a little bit too much, he left. 

“ That tea was very good and the sweets there looked delicious” he repeated himself while opening the door of the new cafè. The table of the previous day was free and he took a seat there. It was the perfect place to look around and he loved how the light entered from the window behind him. 

He saw the girl who took his order the other time. 

“ Please, send her to the ice cream machine” A thought popped up in his mind.

As if his prayer was heard, someone called the girl and a few seconds later he saw the boy, the one from yesterday, walking towards him.

“ Morning, what can I give you? I hope not green tea again, because that would mean that you had another funny night and I'm sure that it's not that healthy and sorry, I talk too much.”

Chanyeol smiled. 

“ No, don’t worry and a latte would be ok!”

“ Sure!”

While waiting for his drink, he found himself smiling like an idiot. If that place was not that crowded he would have slapped himself, what was wrong with him? A nice guy smiled at him and he felt like that? 

A few minutes later, the waiter arrived with his order.

“ Here’s your latte” The boy smiled charmingly.

“ Thank you!”

He had just finished half of his latte when, almost without even realizing it, he took out his sketchbook, filled with blank pages, from his bag. As soon as his hand grabbed the pencil it was like the world around him stopped. He could just hear the sound of the graphite on the paper. Just him, his sketchbook, and that boy.

Every time he lifted his head, it was only to look at him, no one else didn’t exist anymore. He looked at how his hands delicately put the cups on tables, how he smiled at everyone and how every time he smiled his eyes became crescent moons, shining brightly. He noticed some details, like the constellation of moles on his face, he also had a brown spot on his thumb.

If his phone didn't start vibrating, he would’ve stayed in that sort of trance, lost in his sketch.

“ Junmyeon, hey!” Chanyeol greeted.

“ How are you? I know your friends are trying to help you to get your inspiration back, how is it going?”

He looked at the paper in front of him, where the profile of a boy appeared.

“ Not that bad, I guess.”

“ Really? Wow, I'm so happy to hear that! Anyway, I got you a few tickets for the exhibition of a friend. He’s very good so I'm sure you’ll like his works and I thought that maybe it can help you with your block!”

“ Thank you Junmyeon, really!”

From that day onwards, he started to take morning or afternoon coffees at that cafè. The more he went there, the more he became addicted to the caffeine and his sketchbook had more and more sketches, filling the blank pages with a figure of a boy.

One evening, he invited Kyungsoo and Sehun to his place for a dinner cooked by him, he was busy cutting onions when Kyungsoo entered the kitchen holding his sketchbook. 

“ I guess I figured out where you spend your days, lately.” 

“ You shouldn’t look at people’s sketchbooks” he said leaving the onions and putting the knife down to rush and take the book from his friend’s hands.

“ Chanyeol, these drawings are beautiful, they are very beautiful! So you go there every day, you drink your coffee and you draw him?”

Yes, that was what he did. 

“ Did you talk to him at least?”

“ Yes, when he comes to take my order.”

“ Park Chanyeol, you’re a lost cause. If you’re so interested in that nice guy, you should do your move, you don't even know his name!”

“ Baekhyun, his name is Baekhyun, I heard his colleague calling him.” 

Kyungsoo looked at him, expressionless.

“ And I'm pretty sure he wouldn’t be interested, I don't want him to think I'm a creepy person!” he added.

“ Yeah, like going there every day and drawing him it’s not creepy, Chanyeol! You should talk to him before I tell this to Sehun, he would go to talk to him on your behalf, you know he would do it! “

“ No please no!” he said laughing and begging.

“ I’m starving here, less talking and more cooking!” Sehun shouted from the garden.

“ The baby is hungry, we must hurry up. Anyway Chanyeol, those drawings are very good, I think you found your new muse” he said, winking at him. 

“ Hi, I'm Chanyeol” he said smiling while looking at himself in the mirror that night, in his pajamas. 

“ No, that is too formal. Hello, I come here every day but I have never told you my name!”

He laughed. 

“ As if he cares about knowing my name” he added, laughing at himself. 

“ Hello, would you like to be my model for a painting? Oh no, don't worry, no naked things unless you want and oh my god Park Chanyeol you are very bad at flirting!” He screamed while grabbing his hair, looking at his desperate face in the mirror. 

But Kyungsoo was right, he should’ve talked to Baekhyun. 


	4. Chapter four

Before he fell asleep, he told himself that the following day, he was going to finally talk to Baekhyun but the weather wasn’t helping. The sound of heavy rain and thunders was his alarm that morning.

With such weather, his breakfast at the cafè would’ve been skipped unless he wanted to drown in the street. 

“ Maybe it’s destiny, I don't have to talk to him” he told himself while sipping his morning tea, looking at the heavy rain damaging his poor flowers outside. 

It was afternoon and it was still raining. 

“ Just stupid people would go out with this weather” he mumbled while wearing his jacket and opening the door of his house, with the umbrella in the other hand. 

“ And you, Park Chanyeol, are very stupid” he added once he was in front of the cafè, totally wet because of the rain. 

He noticed that the place was almost empty for the first time during the period he went there. 

“ Not everyone is an idiot to go out with this rain” he thought feeling stupid.

“ Oh my god, you’re soaking wet!” exclaimed a voice as soon as the door closed behind him. 

Baekhyun was walking toward him. 

“ Take a seat, I’ll bring you a towel!”

“ No, there’s no need-“

Baekhyun had already left before he could finish his words and he came back a few minutes later with a towel in his hands. 

“ Here, I can't let a client have a cold, do you want me to bring you something hot?”

He was so sweet. He was sure he was blushing in that moment. 

“ Uhh, maybe a hot chocolate.”

“ Excellent choice!” he exclaimed, winking at him.

He looked around. There were just him, a couple and an old lady. 

“ Yeah, today is empty, only a fool would go out with such weather and oh sorry, I didn’t mean to call you a fool!” exclaimed Baekhyun giving him the hot chocolate.

“ No, don’t worry, actually I'm a fool for leaving home under this heavy rain.” Chanyeol chuckled.

“ Well I'm sure that if you did it, you had your good reasons, enjoy the chocolate!” he exclaimed, smiling at him. 

Since that day there wasn't a lot of work to do, Baekhyun took the chance to chat with his colleague. He observed how he always looked in the eyes of the person he was talking to and he was also touchy, he never lost a chance to touch the other and then whenever he listened to the other he could see from his gaze that he was really paying attention to every word the colleague said.

Hands.

He had a thing for Baekhyun's hands, his eyes fell on them the first time he saw him. He couldn’t stop but notice the delicateness and beauty of his hands. Those hands deserved an exhibition dedicated just to them. 

He was drawing the pinky finger of his right hand when Baekhyun came up to him, taking him by surprise and while hiding the sketchbook, he made it fall. 

“ Sorry, I didn’t want to scare you, I wanted to know if you needed something else” said Baekhyun, almost shyly.

“ Oh, no no sorry, I was too focused and I didn't hear you coming. Anyway, I'm ok, thank you” he stuttered while trying to reach the sketchbook on the floor before Baekhyun could see it. 

“ Wait, let me help you” Baekhyun said, kneeling. 

“No!” he said, so loudly that the couple who was leaving looked at him. 

“ I mean, no, thank you!” he added, embarrassed for shouting.

“ It’s ok, don’t worry” Baekhyun said, smiling. 

There was something different in that smile, but he was too embarrassed about what happened to notice it. 

With his cheeks still red, he went back to drawing to finish that day’s portrait. It was Baekhyun leaning on a table while talking to his colleague. 

When he lifted his head, rubbing his tired eyes, he noticed that he was the only client left. 

“ Don’t worry, we close in an hour!” suddenly exclaimed Baekhyun. 

“ Oh, ok, thanks!” he shyly said, he couldn't stop thinking about the little accident. He still felt guilty because he knew he had sounded rude. 

“ Ehm….”

“ Yes?”

He felt so embarrassed, he kept nervously playing with the pencil in his hands. 

“ Sorry for earlier.”

“ Oh, thank you but don’t worry, I can understand that you freaked out because you were afraid I saw the drawings you made of me.” Baekhyun smirked slightly.

Chanyeol’s heart stopped beating. 

“ I- I can explain!” Chanyeol stuttered.

Baekhyun was now in front of him, laughing a bit.

“ I’m not mad for the drawings, I'm just….frustrated. I thought that one day you would have asked me my name, my number, anything, but you just kept drawing me in silence.”

“ I- I know your name, Baekhyun.”

“ But I don't know yours”

“ Chanyeol.”

“ And you’re an artist, a very good one!”

Baekhyun took a seat in front of him. 

“ No clients around, so I can take a break” he said, winking at him. 

“ It’s a pleasure to finally know you, Chanyeol and can I see them?” he asked, pointing at his sketchbook with his eyes.

“ They’re just ugly sketches.”

“ I’m sure they are not, may I be the judge?”

There was no point in hiding them from him anymore, Baekhyun knew everything and he had never felt so embarrassed in his life. He wanted to melt, like a block sugar in a cup of hot coffee.

He put the sketchbook on the table and slowly pushed it towards Baekhyun who took it, with his long and delicate fingers. 

While Baekhyun was looking at it, page after page, he was sweating. What if he was scared of him because he thought he was a freak who drew strangers? What if he disliked his drawings? 

What if…

“ Wow” suddenly exclaimed Baekhyun. 

Did he like them?

“ Chanyeol, are you perhaps a famous artist? Because I don’t know anything about art, but these drawings are too good!”

“ Don’t know if I'm famous but I exhibited my art at my friend’s gallery.”

“ So you’re famous, oh my god, a famous artist drew me!”

Baekhyun’s excitement amused and flustered him at the same time.

“ So you're not mad?”

“ Mad? Why would I be mad? No one has ever drawn me! Look, you even drew the mole on my finger. I’ve been with a boy once, for months, and he didn’t even notice it, while you? You noticed so many things, you…observed me very well.”

“ Sorry about that.”

“ Sorry? Chanyeol, it was funny and….I didn’t mind it. I noticed that you looked at me, but you were so busy drawing me that you didn’t notice that I also stole glances.”

Baekhyun said the last part almost in a whisper but Chanyeol heard it.

Did he?

“ I noticed how you always put too much sugar in whatever you drink and then you always move the spoon three times in a way and three times in the other. You always lick the spoon, closing your eyes, enjoying the taste of the coffee, it’s like your little ritual before drinking. Then you take your sketchbook out of your bag and you start to draw me.”

He was surprised. 

“ As you see, I’m a good observer too” he said winking at him. 

Suddenly it was so silent. He looked outside. 

“ It stopped raining” he noticed.

“ Chanyeol, why did you come here, despite the weather? I mean I think I know the reason...”

“ I wanted to finish a drawing...of you.”

Baekhyun smiled. 

“ So you came to draw me but not to see me?” he asked, giggling.

“ Well, I have to see you, to draw you.”

“ Chanyeol, can I ask you if you want to, I don’t know, maybe have a coffee with me, one of these days? I’d like to know more about your art.”

“ Yes!” he almost screamed, immediately turning red by Baekhyun’s amused facial expression. 

“ I guess you’re ok with that. Now I have to go, I have some stuff to clean before closing this place, but I'm sure I'll see you again. It was a pleasure, Chanyeol, finally!”

With a huge smile on his face, he left the table and went to pay for his coffee. 

“ Thank you, sir, I wish you a good evening!” exclaimed a young girl, giving him his receipt.

“ Wait!”

He stopped at the door, waiting for Baekhyun who was running toward him. 

“ Here, my number, in case tomorrow it will rain again and you won’t come” he said, giving him a note with his number on it.

“ Baekhyun, I'd still come, but thank you.”

They exchanged smiles before Chanyeol left.


	5. Chapter five

When he woke up the following day, he yawned while smiling and looking at the sun lighting his garden. His flowers were quite damaged due to the rain, he’ll have to fix it later.

Once in the kitchen, his eyes fell on the yellow note on this table, where Baekhyun wrote his number down

He was happy to have left his house, despite the heavy rain, the previous day and even more happy that Baekhyun wasn’t shy like him and took the courage to talk to him. From what he said it seemed that he was interested in him, or maybe in his art. The important thing was that he could have a chance to know him better and that was what he had always wanted during those days of drawing those countless hidden portraits. 

He was about to leave when someone knocked at his door. 

“ Kyungsoo?”

“ Morning sunshine, I met Junmyeon and he gave me these to give to you, he thought to get more tickets but his friend gave him just two.”

“ Right, the tickets for the exhibition, thank you!”

“ Anyway, where are you going?”

“ To have breakfast.”

“ Out? Oh, I see!”

Chanyeol could only blush.

“ So, did you talk to him?”

“ Actually, he did.”

“ What? And you didn’t tell me? I want to know everything!”

“ But I was going to…”

“ You’ll go there this afternoon, I'm sure he will be there, don’t worry, now let’s have breakfast in your garden and tell me everything!”

“ So he saw your drawings and he likes them?!” Kyungsoo said after he told him everything.

“ Ask him to model for you, he’s the right inspiration, Chanyeol!”

He didn’t think about that. 

“ I don’t think it’s a good idea, he’ll probably think I’m strange.”

“ Chanyeol you’re an artist and he knows it, it wouldn’t be a strange request and you don’t draw nudes, from what I know, unless you want to try something new” he said, winking at him.

“ And he seems to appreciate your art, so I’m sure he would be happy about it!” he added. 

He really wanted to know Baekhyun better and he was afraid of doing or saying the wrong thing. 

“ Why don’t you invite him to the exhibition? You have two tickets.”

“ We just talked for a few minutes, what if….”

“ You’re full of ifs Chanyeol, let it go, risk it all, I'm sure it’s worth it!” 

That afternoon the cafè was full of people, but as soon as he entered he saw Baekhyun, he was taking an order at a table, he smiled at him. 

He took a seat and since Baekhyun was busy, another waiter took his order. 

While he was drinking his coffee, he observed Baekhyun running here and there, to satisfy all the clients. He wanted to talk with him, but he couldn’t bother him while he was working, so he ended up ordering more to drink and eat, till the place became less crowded and Baekhyun was finally free to go to him. 

After almost four hours, with a macaron, a slice of carrot cake, an americano and two little cups of teas, Baekhyun finally reached him. 

“ You really stayed here, waiting for me!” 

“ Yes, I wanted to talk with you.”

“ I’m very happy you stayed!”

“ Ehm, Baekhyun, do you like art?”

“ Yours? Without doubts?”

He giggled at that answer. Chanyeol cleared his throat before speaking again.

“ My friend gave me two tickets for an art exhibition, I wondered if you…”

“ Yes, I’d love to go there with you!”

“ Really?”

“ Really, Chanyeol, thank you for asking me!”

They were looking at each other, smiling, he also knew that his cheeks were red as tomatoes because Baekhyun’s smile always made him blush, then a waiter walked by and whispered:“ You’re both embarrassing!”

“ Thank you for the comment Jongin!” Baekhyun hissed while laughing.

“ Ehm, Chanyeol, when is the exhibition?”

“ Next week, why do you have other things to do? Don’t worry, I’d understand!” Chanyeol said as fast as lightning.

Baekhyun laughed. 

“ No no, don't worry, I don’t have any other plans, I just wondered if you’d like to have a coffee with me, before the exhibition, or do I have to wait for another week for that pleasure?”

“ No of course not, I mean yes, I mean no you don’t have to wait for another week, I’d love to”

He wanted to hit his head against the table for how embarrassing he was. 

“ Tomorrow afternoon I'm free, I know a nice place!”

“ Ok, perfect, tomorrow then, but where?”

“ Send me a text this evening so I can save your number and I will tell you. Now I have to go, it’s always a pleasure seeing you, Chanyeol.”

That day his hands hadn’t touched a pencil yet, until he sat in his garden, after dinner, with his sketchbook in front of him. 

He felt good. During the last year, he hardly touched his sketchbook and when he did, he just stared at it, drawing random things without sense. 

Did he really find his muse? 

He laughed. No, muses didn't exist.

He stayed there till late, the moon that night was full and bright, but at a certain point, his eyes began to burn and his hands to hurt. 

He was going to bed when he saw the exhibition tickets on the table of the kitchen and he realized that he still hadn’t texted Baekhyun. 

Hoping that it wasn’t too late, he saved his phone number and wrote to him. 

_ c- Hey, I’m Chanyeol and this is my number. Sorry if it’s late. _

He was still thinking if he had to write him something more when Baekhyun replied to him. 

_ b- Chanyeol finally, I started to think that you lost my number or you changed plans.  _

_ c- What? no no, I didn’t change anything, sorry! I was drawing and I didn’t realize it was so late already. _

_ b- Oh were you drawing?  _

_ c- Yes _

_ b- Me? _

His phone almost fell from his hands. Yes, he was drawing him. 

_ c- Just a random sketch  _

_ b- Will you show it to me?  _

_ c- If you want it… _

_ b- I love seeing myself through your eyes, in your drawings I look almost beautiful hehe _

_ c- But you’re beautiful! _

He didn't even think twice before writing that. 

_ b- You really think that?  _

_ c- So, for tomorrow?  _

He asked, changing the subject. He felt guilty for that and he panicked a little.

_ b- I’ll send you the address, let’s meet there at about 4 pm, ok? _

_ c- Sure! _

_ b- Night Chanyeol! _

_ c- Night! _

“ You really think that?” 

He couldn’t stop thinking about Baekhyun’s question and he felt a coward for not having answered it. What if Baekhyun took his silence as a no to his question?

He immediately took his phone from the drawer.

_ c- Yes, you’re very beautiful, Baekhyun _


	6. Chapter six

The following day, he couldn't wait to meet Baekhyun. 

He had just buttoned the last buttons of his shirt up, when his phone rang. 

“ Chanyeol, do you know artists who need a model for nudes?”

“ Hello to you Sehun and no, but if I hear someone who needs a naked model I will make sure to mention your name.”

“ Thank you, I found out that I'd earn more like that and I also think that my body deserves to be seen by the world.”

Chanyeol laughed, shaking his head.

“ Anyway, are you free now?”

“ To talk about your naked body? No sorry, I was about to leave.”

“ Are you going to the cafè where your new muse works? Kyungsoo told me everything.”

“ Well, yes, I’m going to meet him, but not there.”

“ Wow, so a date?”

“I don’t know, maybe. I hope it.”

“ Good luck, just don’t wear that blue shirt with white flowers, it makes you look like you’re ready to take a flight to Hawaii. Have fun!”

He looked at his shirt and then at his watch.

He still had time to change the blue shirt with white flowers. 

The address Baekhyun sent him was of a place in Gangnam, so it took him a while to reach it. When the phone notified him that he arrived, he lifted his head and saw a smiling Baekhyun in front of a place called Banana tree. 

“ Chanyeol you found me! And sorry for choosing this place, but it’s one of my favorites and well, you’ll see why it’s so special!”

He followed him inside. The place was little and who designed it definitely loved bananas, yellow and flowers. 

“ It’s not as fancy as the place where I work, I know” said Baekhyun once they took a seat.

“ It’s lovely, Baekhyun, really.”

He understood why Baekhyun liked that place as soon as they brought them what they ordered. 

The cakes were served inside a pot, with flowers inside. 

“ You can eat the flowers too!” exclaimed Baekhyun, excitedly.

“ Do you like it, Chanyeol? See, my grandmother was a florist and she taught me a lot about flowers.”

“ I love flowers, you should see my garden!”

“ Is that an invitation to your place?”

“ I- I…well yes, if you want.”

“ You know, I didn’t expect an artist to be so shy” he said, amused. 

“ I’m better with canvases than with people, I guess.”

“ It wasn’t a criticism, Chanyeol, I found it very cute and I can see from your eyes that you’re a very kind and sensitive person.”

They spent hours talking and learning about each other. 

Baekhyun told him that when he was younger his dream was to be a stylist, but it was a way too expensive dream, so he started working part-time at cafés and then worked full time. Like that, he became a waiter.

“ I know people could think that I hate my job, but I like it. The place is nice, they also pay me well and it allows me to meet new people! The patissier is teaching me some things and I’m having a lot of fun, soon you will eat my sweets!” he said. 

He told him how he became an artist, his work with Junmyeon, about his exhibition and his artist block too. 

“ So the drawings you made of me, are they the first after a while?” he asked, surprised.

He nodded. 

“ Wow, Chanyeol, that makes me...happy and flustered. No one has ever drawn me, but you didn’t do just that, you drew something after a while and you chose to draw me, thank you!”

“ I’m the one who has to say thank you, Baekhyun.”

“ Can I ask you why? I mean that place is always full of people and my colleagues are handsome, did you see Jongin? He’s a greek statue.”

“ You’re the one who caught my eyes. I can’t explain why, but it’s like you’re made to be drawn, you’re perfect. Your skin always shines, and I love the pink of your cheeks when you get too hot while working. Your hands, I could draw them for hours and never get tired, your hands are art themselves, Baekhyun. And your lips, so pink, always busy smiling and then your…”

He noticed that Baekhyun was staring at him in silence, biting his pinky finger, while he was just praising him without stopping. 

“ Sorry, I should stop” he said, embarrassed, covering his face, his fingers parting at his big eyes.

“ Oh no, please, go on. No one has ever told me those things!”

“ Really?” he asked, surprised.

“ Mmmm. I’ve heard things like ‘Your ass is so beautiful, Baekhyun, you have a nice cock.’ I heard those things, sometimes! But I wouldn’t call them compliments.”

Chanyeol choked on his coffee, making the other laugh. 

“ Wait, you have coffee on your...”

Before realizing, Baekhyun took a paper tissue and cleaned the coffee from his chin. 

That was the first time he touched him. 

“ I didn’t have doubts that you would have blushed” he said, satisfied. 

They talked nonstop for hours and the more he knew about Baekhyun, the more he wanted to spend time with him. 

“ Guys, I'm sorry, but we’re closing in ten minutes!” warned a waiter. 

“ I hope you liked it!” exclaimed Baekhyun, when they left the place. 

“ I loved it, thank you and I really enjoy spending time with you!”

His heart started to suddenly beat faster when Baekhyun got closer to him and kissed him on his cheek. 

“ I really can’t wait for our second date.”

“ D-date?”

“ This was a date, right?”

Chanyeol smiled and nodded shyly.

He was so lost in his happy thoughts, still thinking about Baekhyun’s kiss, when he noticed that his friends, Kyungsoo and Sehun, were in front of his house. 

“ Finally!”

“ Why are you here? Did something happen?”

“ No, we wanted to know about your first date!”

In front of some beers and chips, he told them everything.

“ So he loves flowers, he loves your art and he loves being praised by you. Chanyeol, hello, wake up, he’s the right one!” exclaimed Kyungsoo, more excited than anyone else.

“ And did you end the date with a kiss on a cheek? Disappointing!” added Sehun. 

“ Sehun, not everyone ends the first date in bed, handcuffed and blindfolded!”

“ It happened just once!” he complained. 

“ Anyway, Chanyeol, I’m always right!” he added.

“ About what?”

“ Remember when I said that maybe love could inspire you?” 


	7. Chapter seven

The day of the exhibition arrived faster than he expected. He saw Baekhyun almost every day and they started to text each other a lot, so he really couldn’t wait for their second date. 

“ I expected artists to arrive late” exclaimed Baekhyun, jumping into his car.

“ I’m not like other artists.”

“ Oh I know it” he said while leaning close to kiss his cheek. 

It’s not that he didn’t want more. He found himself looking at Baekhyun’s lips too many times, he wanted to touch them, kiss them. 

“ Ready?” 

Baekhyun’s voice interrupted him from the train of thoughts.

“ Yeah..I’m excited, I can’t remember the last time I went to an exhibition!”

“ So what kind of exhibition is it?” asked Baekhyun, once they were in front of the art gallery.

“ I don’t know, my friend Junmyeon gave me the tickets saying that maybe seeing it could help my block. I’m curious.”

“ Welcome guys, here, take this and welcome to the exhibition” told them a woman, and gave them two leaflets. 

“ The hidden” he read, that was the theme. 

“ Sounds interesting, let’s go!” exclaimed Baekhyun. 

As soon as they entered, his mouth went completely dry. 

“ Well, this is very interesting, I guess” said Baekhyun, giggling out of amusement.

“ I’m not an art expert, so correct me if I'm wrong, but for hidden the artist meant what is hidden under our clothes and in our rooms” he added, making Chanyeol turn into a tomato on the spot. 

“ You’re totally right!” said a voice behind them. 

“ Welcome to my exhibition, my name is Yixing.”

“ Oh, wow, what an honor to meet the artist, I can’t wait to see your paintings. We’ve just arrived, I'm Baekhyun and he’s my...uh..friend Chanyeol.”

He noticed the pause before saying friend. 

“ Chanyeol? Are you Junmyeon’s friend?”

“ Yes, I am. Thank you for the tickets.”

“ It’s a pleasure to have you here, I saw your works and you’re very good! I hope you and your boyfriend will enjoy the exhibition” he said, before leaving. 

“ I’m pretty sure to have used the word friend” said Baekhyun, laughing while cutely covering his mouth.

“ Did that bother you?” he asked. 

“ No, Baekhyun, It’s ok. I don’t think we’re just friends.”

Baekhyun smiled and took his hand. 

It was such a simple thing, but the feeling of Baekhyun’s hand over his, it made him feel so good. 

“ Let’s see this hidden world” Baekhyun said, leading the other towards the paintings.

The paintings were very beautiful, so detailed to almost look like photos.

Room after room, the hidden world of the artist became even more explicit, while his hand, still in Baekhyun’s one, sweatier. 

“ Wow, look at that!” suddenly exclaimed Baekhyun, pointing at a painting and dragging him in front of it. 

In the painting, there were two men on a bed. They gave their back to the viewer and if it wasn’t for the mirror in front of them he could see just one of them, his muscled back and a perfect round ass, but the mirror showed what was hidden. In front of the man, on his hands and knees, there was another one. They were both looking into the mirror. 

“ I think they’re both looking in the mirror because that’s the only way to make eye contact, they’re looking at each other” said Baekhyun. 

He looked at him, he seemed so fascinated by the painting. 

“ They’re beautiful, look at the muscles and the detail of the sweat on their skin. Also, their facial expressions, you can totally see how much they’re enjoying it, you see the pleasure, but also the intimacy. They’re not two strangers, they're lovers, they know each other, and they clearly are in love.” 

He couldn’t say anything, he didn’t want to interrupt that moment, he just looked at Baekhyun. 

“ I wish to have what they have” he added, smiling, still looking at the painting. 

Probably it was because of his silence, or maybe because he felt his eyes on him, but Baekhyun turned his head and looked at him. 

“ You’re beautiful, Baekhyun” Chanyeol blurted out the words. He didn’t know why he suddenly said that, but Baekhyun was the best painting in that place. 

“ Such compliment said in a room full of beautiful paintings means a lot” said Baekhyun. His thumb was caressing Chanyeol’s hand, sending shivers up and down his body. 

They still had one room to see and they walked in silence, never letting each other’s hand go, from painting to painting. Something had changed, the air was different, he could feel something, he could hear something, unspoken words, between them. 

“ I guess this is the end of the exhibition!” said Baekhyun in front of the last painting. Chanyeol nodded and smiled.

“ Thank you Chanyeol for bringing me here, I loved it!” he added.

“ Thank you for coming, so….”

“ I don’t want to go home.”

He also didn’t want the evening to end like that. 

“ Would you like to see my flowers?”


	8. Chapter eight

“ Baekhyun, I'm sorry for the exhibition, I didn’t know it was like that” he shyly said, once they were in front of his house. 

“ Chanyeol, I loved it, I really loved it, especially that painting, it was so beautiful and full of...everything. So, thank you and stop worrying, you’re doing great!” he said, giving him a thumbs up. 

“ Oh god, this is your garden? I love it, look at those roses, and those tulips, they look wonderful!” he said with enthusiasm, caressing and sniffing the flowers. 

“ This is my open-air studio.”

“ It’s beautiful and is that a hammock? I’ve always wanted one!”

“ Sit there, I go inside to grab something to drink, ok?”

Baekhyun nodded excitedly and ran cutely to sit on the hammock. Chanyeol chuckled seeing the smaller one giggling like a baby.

When he went back to the garden, Baekhyun was slowly swinging on the hammock.

“ You brought some snacks, you’re the perfect man, Chanyeol” he said, making him red all over.

He sat next to him. 

“ It’s very nice here Chanyeol, I can understand why this place inspires you!” exclaimed Baekhyun, putting the bottle of beer down, so he was free to lay his back on the hammock, looking at the sky. 

“ It’s so peaceful here and look at the sky, I can’t see such a beautiful sky from my place and we live in the same city! Look, that is the brighter star of the Scorpius constellation.”

He laid down too to look at the sky. 

“ And that should be Sirius.”

“ You know about stars?”

“ Just a little!”

He was looking at the stars, but he felt observed. He turned his head and Baekhyun, with his face so close to his, was staring at him. 

“ You’re special, Chanyeol. I have never met someone like you, you’re beautiful and your heart is so pure, you’re precious and kind.”

He felt his hand on his cheek, those delicate fingers that he loved so much. 

“ Can I kiss you?” he asked, their noses touching. 

He nodded and a second later, he felt Baekhyun’s mouth coming close to his. 

“ Sorry for making you wait” he whispered, fanning his breath on the soft lips.

Baekhyun moved closer to him. They were just millimeters from each other.

“ It's worth the wait, believe me.”

They finally latched their lips on each other, what started as sweet and innocent, quickly turned hot and dirty.

They kissed and kissed, tangling their tongues till their lips were swollen and from that moment, Chanyeol knew he would have never had enough of Baekhyun’s taste, of the way he sucked his upper lip, while his hands played with his hair, pulling his head towards him to get into a deeper angle.

Too taken away by the moment Baekhyun lifted a leg to go over him, forgetting that they were on a hammock, they found themselves on the grass, with Baekhyun on top.

They looked at each other and they started to laugh.

“ Are you ok?” he asked.

“ Yes, you? I fell over you!”

“ I’m fine, just hit my ass.” Chanyeol chuckled.

“ Oh…do you want me to check it?”

Chanyeol laughed, even if he felt his face on fire. 

“ You’re irresistible when you blush!” 

They smashed their lips back again, but this time they also explored each other’s bodies with their hands. Soon to no one’s surprise, Baekhyun’s hands were under his shirt.

“ Chanyeol, I hope you don’t have neighbors, or is there anyone who could see me doing this?”

Chanyeol looked curiously at him while Baekhyun sat over him, he lifted his shirt and he dipped down to kiss his chest. 

“ No one can see us” and even if someone did, he didn’t care, not anymore. 

“ I hope they also can’t hear” he said, before gently biting his nipple, making him moan. 

He knew that kisses and touches weren’t enough, anymore, he felt it. He could see it in Baekhyun’s eyes. 

“ I- I think we should move...inside.”

“ Yes, inside, I agree.”

“ But next time I wouldn't mind you know...the view here is amazing” Baekhyun added with a smirk plastered on his face.

Without his shirt, forgotten somewhere in the garden, he brought Baekhyun inside. 

“ Is that a record player?” asked Baekhyun, once in the house. 

“ Yes!”

“ I love it, you have to make me listen to something...but later.”

Baekhyun loved talking, he knew that every time they were together, he couldn’t stay in silence and he loved that because whatever he said was fascinating or funny. 

But there, in bed, while Baekhyun was over him, showering him with kisses, his hands slowly massaging his boner through his pants, he was silent. A silence that he could hear. 

Between kisses and touches, he found himself naked, under Baekhyun’s eyes and hands. 

“ You’re so beautiful and you don’t even know it” Baekhyun said, admiring and kissing him. 

He had observed Baekhyun’s fingers many times. The way they wrapped around mugs and cups, the way he moved them while speaking, the way they felt in his hand. 

He even drew them, several times. 

Feeling those fingers on him, inside him, that was a thing that he would have never imagined to feel. 

Delicate, long, he knew where to put them, how to move them to make him feel good. 

They looked at each other in the eyes, while Baekhyun was inside him. Their hands entwined, Baekhyun’s mouth sucking and biting his neck, as if his body was his canvas. 

No words were needed, just their heavy breaths and sweet moans, sometimes they whispered each other’s name, to make the other understand to go harder.

Even after the orgasm, a loud one, Baekhyun kept thrusting in him, slower and sweeter, till he was too exhausted and after a deep kiss, he collapsed on him without pulling out from him.

They stayed like that, Baekhyun’s head resting on his chest, while Chanyeol was playing with his hair.

“ Did I hurt you, Yeol?”

“ What? No! Why do you ask that?”

“ You were…uhm..tight?” he answered, raising an eyebrow. 

“ Ehm, well….it’s been a long time” he said, red colored over his face.

“ It was amazing, I felt so good, thank you.”

Chanyeol hugged him tightly. 

“I loved it, you were sweet, you didn’t hurt me.”

“ Good, I really can’t wait to do it again” he said, yawning. 

“ What? Now?” he asked, but Baekhyun didn’t answer. 

He looked at him, his eyes were closed. He fell asleep. 

He smiled while pressing a kiss onto his forehead and chased Baekhyun to dreamland after a few.

He woke up at the sound of the rain against the window. Another rainy day. 

He looked at Baekhyun, still peacefully sleeping, cuddled up in a blanket.

At least that day he didn’t have to deal with the rain to see him, because he was there, right next to him. 

While admiring him, he instinctively brought a hand at his lip, blushing as he thought where those lips had been the previous night.

Seeing him like that, naked, with just a sheet covering part of his body, ruffled hair and pinky lips, he couldn’t stop thinking of how he reminded him of those ancient Greek statues, or those painting with gods. It was a pity not to immortalize him on canvas. 

Bringing his canvas there would have been too noisy and he didn’t want to wake Baekhyun up. Trying to be very silent, he left the bed and went back on it with his sketchbook. 

He had just finished drawing the profile of Baekhyun’s body, when the other, yawning, opened his eyes, rubbing them. 

“ Morning and don’t move please” he said, smiling at him, before going back to draw. 

“ Good morning to you too, my dear artist and are you drawing me, naked?”

“ Half-naked, don’t worry.”

“ I wasn’t complaining, I mean, usually people take naked photos of the partner, but you’re drawing me, I'm lucky!”

While drawing him Baekhyun was too silent and, lifting his eyes from the paper, he realized that he fell asleep again. 

“ Done!” he exclaimed, satisfied, after a couple of hours. 

Baekhyun replied to him by snoring softly.

He giggled and shook his head.

He leaned down to kiss him and then he decided it was time to get up. 

He felt good, he was happy. He put some music on and he started to squeeze some oranges. Outside it was still raining and the sound of it perfectly mixed with the music, creating a relaxing atmosphere. 

“ I took a shower, I hope you don’t mind!” exclaimed Baekhyun, entering the kitchen. 

“ Baekhyun, you can do everything you want here, really.” 

He hugged him and kissed him. 

“ Then I want to kiss you, again and again.”

He giggled, when he kissed his nose, tickling him. 

“ Anyway, I saw the drawing you made of me this morning.”

“ And?”

“ I'd have never thought to want a painting of myself, half-naked, in a bed.”

He laughed.

“ I’m glad you liked it.”

“ I love it, Chanyeol. So what is there for breakfast? Orange juices and you?” he asked, kissing him. 

“ Y-yes, I mean orange juice and then...maybe pancakes?”

Baekhyun blocked him against the fridge. 

“ I think those pancakes can wait, Chanyeol, my menu is way better.”


	9. Chapter nine

They had sex again that morning, before pancakes, and then again that afternoon. 

He was tired, but he couldn’t have enough of Baekhyun and his touches over him, feeling him inside. 

They were on the bed, lulled by the sound of the rain and the music from the living room that had never stopped playing. 

“ Chanyeol? Are you happy?” he suddenly asked, playing with his hand. 

“ You mean now, at this moment, or in general?”

“ Why? Would your answer change?”

“ Right now, with you here, I'm very happy, and about my life, I don’t know. I can't say that I'm not happy, maybe frustrated and unsatisfied.”

“ Is it because of your artist block?”

“ I guess so, being an artist is what I am, it’s everything I am. Without my paintings I'm nothing.”

Baekhyun rolled over his belly and looked at him. 

“ That is not true, you’re special because you are you, paintings make you what you are but it’s not everything, Chanyeol. I like you because you make me smile, you make me feel good and you’re sweet with me, I’d still like you even if you weren’t an artist.”

Chanyeol kissed his nose making Baekhyun scrunch his face, adorably. 

“ And you? Are you happy?”

“ Yes, Chanyeol. I’m really happy!” Baekhyun gave him the sweetest smile ever, tilting his head.

They spent a lazy day in bed, till it stopped raining and Baekhyun got dressed, ready for leaving. 

“ I’d stay here, believe me, but I have a work reunion and tomorrow morning I will have to wake up early.”

He hugged him, inhaling his sweet perfume. 

“ If you keep holding me like that, it’s hard to leave you, Chanyeol.”

He laughed.

“ Thank you, Baekhyun.”

He kissed him. 

“ I like you Chanyeol, I really do, and if you agree this is just the beginning of us.”

Yes, he wanted it. 

“ So, now I go, if you want a coffee, tomorrow, you know where to find me” he said, winking at him, before leaving. 

He had just changed his bedsheet when he received a call from Junmyeon. 

“ Hello Chanyeol, so did you draw som-”

“ No, Junmyeon.”

“ Oh, ok.”

“ Not yet” he said grinning.

“ Why do you sound like you have something in your beautiful mind?”

“ I got inspired, I guess, so I think that if I work hard I will be able to give you a painting for the exhibition.”

“ I’m so happy to hear that, Chanyeol. There is something strange in your voice.”

“ Strange?”

“ It has that spark of happiness that I missed hearing, I'm very glad and grateful to the person who made you feel like that!”

He smiled. 

“ Yeah, me too.”

He had less than a month for working on that painting, but the idea he had was clear in his mind.

That evening when he sat in front of his canvas, for the first time after a while he felt good. He was happy to be there, to have that brush in his hand, to finally see lines appearing on the blank space.

He was back. 

He spent his days working on that painting, having coffees at the cafè, where Baekhyun always stole many kisses when they were sure no one was looking at them and then the dates. They went everywhere, enjoying their time together, and Chanyeol had never felt that happy to have someone next to him. 

The sex too, it was good and Baekhyun always treated him with kindness, except for few times where they both needed something new and things were faster, rougher, his body wanted to be marked and filled for the whole night and the other gave him everything he desired. 

It was a week before the exhibition and no one, not even Junmyeon, had seen the painting. He wanted it to be a surprise and he still had to add few details. 

That evening he had told Baekhyun to join him at his place for dinner, but he was so busy with his work that he didn't realize it was already dinner time and Baekhyun, finding the door open, entered.

“ Chanyeol, I'm here!” 

He felt him nearer and nearer and he managed to cover the painting just in time before the other walked in. 

“ If I was quieter, I could have finally seen your painting, damn me!” exclaimed Baekhyun, making him laugh. 

“ Be patient, just one week and you will see it!”

“ I’m so curious, you didn’t say anything about it! Is it me naked?

“ No, that painting is only for my eyes.”

Baekhyun kissed him. 

It started as a soft, almost quick kiss, but then his hands wrapped around Baekhyun’s tiny waist and the other pulled him closer. The kiss became deeper and rougher, till they were sucking and biting each other’s lips and necks and before they knew, clothes fell on the floor one by one. 

They didn’t even reach the bedroom, Baekhyun took him there, on the floor of his studio. 

He almost forgot about the big mirror that he put in that room, since he had no space left, till he lifted his head up and saw their reflection. 

He saw himself, naked, on his hands and knees, his hair was a mess because Baekhyun loved playing with them and he could already see the red marks on his neck and chest. His cheeks were red and he couldn’t recognize his expression, he had never seen how pleasure looked on his face. Behind him, Baekhyun looked like a god, shining sweat on his candid skin, his hands on Chanyeol’s hips to have balance while he was thrusting in him. He was looking at his face when he realized that Baekhyun was also looking in the mirror and their eyes met. 

“ Just like painting” he moaned.

“ We’re a painting, Chanyeol.”

Two days before the exhibition. That morning he went to give the painting to Junmyeon. 

“ I still can’t believe I made it!”

“ Chanyeol, I have never lost faith in you. I’m really glad to have your painting at the exhibition and even if I still hadn’t s-“

“ Don’t look at it!”

“ Don’t worry, I’m sure I will love it!” he said, proudly smiling. 

To end that day Kyungsoo decided that it was the right evening to celebrate the return of Chanyeol’s inspiration and Baekhyun joined them too. 

“ Baekhyun, I’m curious, how is it dating an artist?” asked Sehun. 

“ An artist has a special soul, he’s more sensitive and empathic and this is beautiful, even when you shower him with compliments and he cries because he thinks he doesn’t deserve it”

They all laughed when Chanyeol turned crimson red. Baekhyun held his hand, squeezing all while giving a reassuring smile.

“ It means always catching him looking at you and seeing his sketchbook full of drawings of you and it’s beautiful because I can see myself through the eyes of the person that I love, always wondering, does he really see me that way? I’m so lucky!”

“ Baekhyun!” he exclaimed, his voice was full of love.

“ Please don’t cry Chanyeol!” exclaimed Kyungsoo laughing. 

“ So just good things?” asked Sehun. 

“ Yes, I mean if I have to find a negative thing, I’d say the fact that I always go back home with paint on my clothes and I never understand how that happens!” Baekhyun complained in a pout.


	10. The end

The day of the exhibition arrived and that morning he woke up with Baekhyun next to him, his arm around him. Baekhyun was very clingy during sleep, he didn’t know if he realized it or not, but he loved feeling his body close to him.

He wanted to let him sleep but as soon as he tried to leave the bed, Baekhyun opened his eyes. 

“ Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you” he whispered, with a long press on his forehead.

“ This is your big day, stop worrying about me, how do you feel?”

“ I’ve never felt so nervous, not even when I had an exhibition all for me, but I guess it’s because I really care about that painting, and I hope you will like it.”

Baekhyun pulled him closer. 

“ I love everything you do, Chanyeol.”

After a quick breakfast together, they left. 

His friends were talking with Junmyeon, waiting for him at the entrance of the gallery. 

“ Here he comes, our great artist and his muse” said Kyungsoo, making the newcomers blush.

“ The gallery will open in five minutes and look at how many people have already arrived!” said Junmyeon. 

“ We all can’t wait to see your painting, Chanyeol!” said Sehun. 

“ Yes, me too!” added Baekhyun. 

“ What? Didn’t he let you see it?” asked Junmyeon, surprised.

“ He even didn’t tell me about what it was!”

“ Well then, it will be a great surprise for everyone, also because it will be in the last room!” said Junmyeon, winking at him.

A few minutes later, people dressed in their most expensive clothes, holding a glass of champagne, gathered around Junmyeon. 

“ Ladies and gentlemen, welcome, it’s really nice to see so many of you here and I'm also happy to see some of my artists here. The theme of the exhibition is Beauty, something so ancient, something that can be different for all of us. I wanted to see what Beauty is for every artist, and I’m sure they won’t disappoint us!”

Everyone clapped their hands and two men opened the door of the first room. 

He walked from painting to painting, Baekhyun held his hand the whole time and his friends followed them, leaving not very serious comments at everything they saw. 

He was fascinated by how every artist explored the theme. He saw landscapes, flowers, people. 

He stopped when they arrived in the last room, the one where his painting was.

Baekhyun stood on his tippy toes to kiss his cheek, taking the taller by surprise.

“ Let’s go!” 

As they entered, Junmyeon walked towards them with a bright smile. 

“ Chanyeol, everyone is loving it and I think it’s one of your best works ever!” he exclaimed, proudly looking at him.

Some people were in front of the painting, admiring it.

“ Wow!” exclaimed both Sehun and Kyungsoo, their jaws dropped to the floor.

He looked at Baekhyun, who was in silence. He was looking at the painting without saying a word.

“ I’m quite curious about the painting, the boy the artist painted is good looking but, a waiter?” Chanyeol heard a man talking to a woman behind him.

“ Yes, a waiter. Beauty is in simple daily things, such as a beautiful waiter at work. The beauty is in his smile because that smile will maybe brighten someone’s day. The beauty is in his kindness towards the clients, who maybe had to start a hard day of work” he turned to explain. 

“ Oh you’re the artist?” asked the man. 

“ Yes, he is” answered Baekhyun. 

“ And you’re the boy in the painting, right?” asked the woman, smiling.

“ Yes, I’m the waiter.”

“ Chanyeol, it’s beautiful!” exclaimed Kyungsoo. 

“ It really is!” added Sehun. 

“ What do you think?” he shyly asked to Baekhyun. 

Finally, Baekhyun moved his attention from the painting to him. He was crying. 

“ Baekhyun!” he softly exclaimed, while the other pulled him in a hug, burying his face in the crook of his lover’s neck. Chanyeol immediately returned the hug, comforting the boy in his arms.

“ You moved me Chanyeol, it’s beautiful and what you said…I don’t deserve you!”

Chanyeol cupped his face and kissed his teary eyes. 

“ You’re my best piece of art, Baekhyun” Chanyeol whispered, kissing his nose before moving onto his lips.

Kissing his boyfriend in front of his painting, in an art gallery full of people that loved it. A painting of the boy he fell in love with, it was a feeling that he couldn’t describe.

He’d have loved to admire that scene, as if he wasn’t part of it, because it would have been a beautiful picture.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the sound of a camera clicking. The two lovers turned to see Kyungsoo, Sehun and a few of the audience taking pictures of them. They looked at each other and smiled.

“ Do you want to leave?” Chanyeol whispered, Baekhyun nodded and grabbed his hand to run out of the exhibition together with their faces filled with smiles and giggles.


End file.
